What a busy weekend/week we have had! Anyone else living in the “what day is it?” blur? Because I thought it was Monday all day yesterday. We kicked off the holiday weekend Friday evening with a family dinner date Friday night. The girls wore themselves out running around the golf course after dinner, which thankfully meant they slept in Saturday.

We had a lazy Saturday, and had our neighbors over in the evening for tiny frog catching, a movie on the patio, wine, and a few fireworks. That morphed into a late night firefly catching marathon. It turns out, Peyton has a newfound calling as a firefly catcher, and showed off all weekend long. Once it was dark, she had no less than 3 in her hands at any given time!

Sunday was spent on the river, despite the rain. And we kept it really classy with some barefoot fireworks set off in our friends’ front yard, while everyone stayed dry between rain in the garage. My favorite picture of Adaline ever was taken during the firework fun; she INSISTED on holding a sparkler just like her sisters, but when we handed it to her, she froze. She looks SO pissed in the picture. It’s hilarious.

More friends came over Monday, and the classiness continued with the blowup pool. Peyton and her friend caught a bunch of frogs, and we burned through about 300 of those fast-filling water balloons. Dave hosted his annual firework extravaganza in the driveway, the neighbor boys came back over, and I have to say, this was one of Dave’s better firework displays!

On the 4th, we woke up early and got into our most festive gear, and headed to the parade. London screamed every time a dog walked by, and nobody cried when the sirens blasted! We headed back home so Adaline could get a nap in, and have lunch before packing up again and going to Peyton’s little BFFs house on the river. The weather was just perfect – the girls tubed and we grilled out. All of a sudden it was 9:30! Time really flew. We headed down and started a bon fire, stuffed a few s’mores in our mouths, and piled back into the boat to catch the fireworks over the river. Adaline even stayed up for most of it!

We love entertaining! Cooking and eating outside are something we Michiganders only get to enjoy a few months out of the year. Living in the middle of a forest has its perks, but clean surfaces isn’t one of them! Around the 4th of July, festive BBQs are pretty much mandatory around here, but nobody wants to sit on a dusty table, coated with pollen. That’s where my two secret weapons come into play! Let me introduce you to my Summer Clean Squad.

Clorox spray and Viva paper towels are a match made in heaven when it comes to keeping our outside entertaining space clean! The Viva Big Rolls feature 40% more Viva per roll (Towel area compared to Viva® Regular Roll; Current practice is use of “33% More”). When it comes to germ-killing strength, Clorox kills 99.9% of germs! It’s specially designed to clean and disinfect a variety of stains on a variety of surfaces, and with Smart Tube Technology®, you can spray every last drop. You know what that means? Bad news for germs, good news for our backyard cookout! My girls could probably eat off the table (and they probably will!)

The best part? Yes, it gets even better! I can pick up Clorox Spray and Viva Paper Towel up while I’m grabbing other party essentials at Walmart! Head on over to your local Walmart and pick up your own “Summer Clean Squad” of Viva paper towels and Clorox cleaning spray!

Did you know you can order fresh groceries online with Walmart, and enjoy the same in-store savings with free pickup?! Walmart will even load your car! Click here to see if it’s available in your area!

Heck, you could even send your husband to pick up the groceries, while you clean every solid, dirt-collecting surface outside! And you’d know he wouldn’t forget anything important 😉

You know we love holidays around here, and the 4th of July is no exception. It’s right up there with Christmas and Easter for me! Something about the summer air, BBQs, and sparklers just speaks to me. We usually spend the morning at the local parade, and then head out to spend the day boating and BBQing with friends. We end the day watching the fireworks – last year, we watched them from the river and that was pretty awesome! Wherever we end up, festive outfits must be worn!

I snagged this bandana and folded it up, and tied it around her fedora. It’s the perfect festive touch!

Our weekend got off to a rocky start, but more on that later. We made up for lost time with some major family fun for the 4th of July. We woke up very early for the parade Monday morning. We were the first from our group to get to the parade route, but hey – we got prime spots for the parade (right at the end, when the people are trying to get rid of all their candy!) London watched most of the parade from our friends’ tricycle, and Addy impressed everyone by smiling and laughing as the sirens blasted, and eventually falling asleep, all while Peyton danced and waved on the side of the road with her friends, yelling, “MUUUURICA!” We opted to head home after for naps, instead of heading to the little carnival afterwords.

After power naps and lunch, we headed to our friend’s house on the river, where we boated to another friend’s house for a backyard party. Because driving would have been overrated. Peyton had a ton of friends there, so she was basically MIA the entire party, playing on a floating foam pad, putting on a gymnastics talent show, and seeing who could make the longest necklace out of glow sticks. London mostly ate; plates full of Doritos (thanks to big sis for that), pasta salad, hot dogs, and about 40 juice boxes that she kept giving to other kids before she finished them. She also made everyone laugh with her dance moves – our little entertainer! Addy is making a hard run for kid of the year. She wowed everyone with her parade performance, and then again when she just chilled the whole afternoon at the party. She also had her first Otterpop. I guess that’s what happens when you’re the third kid and it’s hot outside.

Once the sun had set, most of the partygoers left to go see the fireworks, while others planned on watching them from the party. We boarded the boat, and anchored out with a ton of other boats to watch from the river. Adaline once again just chilled. She laughed, and her eyes got wide with every boom, but eventually she fell asleep. Our friends’ two kids passed out shortly after Adaline. We all took photos of fireworks, and laughed because our friend brought up a very important question: what do you even do with them? Nobody wants to see your firework photos on Facebook, and you definitely don’t look back at the video you took of them a year from now!

During every fireworks show, I’m always like, “Oh! It must be the Grand Finale!” “Nope! This is it!” “Guys. It’s the Grand Finale!” And it never is. David was quick to let me know, “Hey, it’s officially the Grand Finale!” He gets me. We laughed because the city kept letting off a few more after. Like, we all woo’d and applauded, then lifted anchor, and started to leave…and there go 2 more. And done. We get about 2 minutes down the river, and there go 2 more. It was nice to have fireworks to ride home to!

Peyton fell asleep immediately following the fireworks show with her mouth wide open. I tried to shut it for her, so bugs wouldn’t fly in, but no luck. Chocking that up to some extra protein. London was the last kid standing, and also managed to chew through a glow stick. Which I only noticed when I tried to take a selfie to show my mom that she was still awake. She was COVERED in fluorescent glowing goo. Fortunately, it was mostly on her jammies and not in her mouth. I made her chug some lukewarm water, and called it good. Still waiting for a glowing dirty diaper 😉 She spent the end of the boat ride trying to catch bugs, and laughing. Toddlers are so weird cute.